Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Impact Of A Yearlong Placement In A Pds On Teacher Interns’ Dispositions And Abilities To Teach Middle School, Chantelle Renaud-Grant

Georgia Educational Researcher

As students prepare to enter college and the workforce, there has been a demand for them to be more independent, critical thinkers, innovative designers, and thoughtful collaborators. This preliminary study describes how a Professional Development School (PDS) partnership, between a middle school and a university, provides a more authentic teaching opportunity for middle grades teacher interns compared to the traditional, middle grades internship route. An authentic teaching experience provides a successful transition from “student to teacher” through a collaborative work environment; observing and developing the dispositions of an effective teacher; and learning the culture and structure of a school. The …

Critical Transitions In Faculty Learning: Helping Faculty Become Learning-Centered Teachers, Judith Longfield

Judith Longfield

New methodologies of teaching and learning are changing the landscape of higher education. However, faculty are often unaware of the research and continue to rely heavily on lecture. During this interactive session, participants will learn how an extended series, known as the Teaching Academy, transformed instructors’ ideas about effective teaching and their classroom practices. In addition to learning about the impact of the Academy, participants will also consider ways to overcome barriers and implement this type of in-depth faculty development, which did not require additional funding, on their campuses.

Today's Dream Keepers: Exploring The Personal And Professional Beliefs Of Teachers Who Successfully Provide Literacy Instruction To African American Males In Grades 3-5, Lateshia Warren

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

The purpose of this study was to describe the personal and professional beliefs of teachers who were successful with providing literacy instruction to elementary school African American males in a Title I elementary school. This study examined the literacy practices of teachers and their beliefs about African American males. It also investigated their use of culturally relevant teaching practices. It was hypothesized that by exploring the beliefs and practices of successful teachers with African American males, this research could provide evidence of effective strategies, which could be used to impact the literacy achievement of African American males. A qualitative case …

The Identification Of Variables And Factors Related To Preservice Teacher Candidates’ Passing A State Teacher Certification Examination At An Hbcu, Melanie Frizzell, Noran L. Moffett

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This study sought to examine the outcome of teacher education candidates’ performance on a state content exam. Seventeen participants from the class of 2012 were identified for the study of which 12 participants fully participated in the study. This study utilized data collected from the participants through the Teacher Quality Enhancement Subcontract Grant Summer/Fall/Spring 2011-2012 Workshop Series held at the private HBCU. The research design used a QUAN- QUAL-QUAN to triangulate the data through three methods of data collection: GACE early childhood education (ECE) data, GACE ECE survey questionnaire and class of 2012 member interviews. The findings from the survey …

When Words Inflict Harm: Documenting Sexuality And Gender Identity Microaggressions In Schools For Lgbtqq Youth, Darla Linville

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

With the adoption of anti-bullying laws and policies, it may seem that things are looking up for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning (LGBTQQ) youth. We might assume that these laws and policies would better protect them from insults, harassment and violence at the hands of their peers and teachers. In fact, this is sometimes the case. But it is also the case that the insults become more covert, more implicit. Looking at microaggressions gives educational researchers and school personnel the opportunity to examine how gender nonconforming or non-heterosexual youth, or those perceived to be non-heterosexual, are assaulted, invalidated …

Examining The Flipped Classroom Model Through Literacy And Math Integration: Lessons Learned From A Teacher Quality Professional Development Grant Initiative, Anne Katz Ph.D., Jackie Heeyoung Kim Ed.D.

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This presentation will discuss results from a professional development initiative designed to equip primary and elementary grade educators with information and research-based practices to expand teachers’ repertoire of literacy instructional strategies and deepen their math content knowledge through a flipped classroom model. The presentation will define and describe the flipped learning model, briefly note its historical foundations, and address common misconceptions. We discuss learning theories that underlie the model and describe current research findings from our professional development initiative with teachers. We also describe concerns that have emerged as we have worked to develop the flipped learning model. An additional …

Special Educators Describe The Critical Mass Of Co-Teaching, Cynthia T. Shamberger, Kendra W. Henriques

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Co-teaching is an instructional approach usually initiated by school administrators to help general and special education teachers who share a single classroom to ensure students with disabilities have access to the general curriculum. Although research regarding co-teaching is still in need of further development in some areas such as student achievement, co-teaching has increasingly grown in popularity as an option for addressing the multiple needs of diverse learners, including students with disabilities. Some school professionals and researchers who are proponents of this instructional delivery model believe that, "At the core of co-teaching is determining what instructional techniques will be most …

Beyond Library Resources: How To Implement Integrated Learning Across The Curriculum With Information Literacy Components Using Hybrid Delivery, Bernadette Maria Lopez-Fitzsimmons

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

As an academic librarian at Manhattan College, Riverdale, New York, I collaborate with teaching faculty and academic support centers on campus to provide holistic support to students. In the last year a cross collegial group including teaching faculty, library faculty and Instructional Designers has been created to explore ways in which to provide a “flexible structure” in curriculum across disciplines (e.g., Arts, Science, Engineering, Education, Information Literacy, etc.). Two instructional designers and a faculty member from the English Department lead the monthly in person workshops. After each workshop, scholarly and professional articles are posted in Moodle for all participants to …

Impediments To Using Or Sharing What Is “Known”, Winifred Nweke, Virginia Elliott

Georgia Educational Researcher

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate variables that impede the utilization of research findings in, or the transfer of learning from professional development workshops into, classroom best practices. Participants comprised 202 Georgia Master Teachers who attended Leadership Institutes. Participants were taught strategies for differentiating assessment. A 21-item online survey was used to collect data two months after the institute. Eighty-six teachers (42.6%) completed the survey. Fifty-five (64%) respondents had implemented, at least, one strategy. The strategies they found most useful were allowing students redo assignments for full credit, isolating and retesting specific standards rather than a …

Teachers’ And Parents’ Perceptions Of Parental Involvement On Inner City Children’S Academic Success, Molly Zhou

Georgia Educational Researcher

Parental involvement (PI) is an important factor in children’s academic learning. In this study, teachers’ and parents’ perceptions of parental involvement on inner city children’s academic success were examined. The setting of the study was in an inner city Tittle I elementary school with a 90% African American student population. A purposeful random sampling method was used in the study. Fifty five parents and 14 teachers participated in the study. The Parental Involvement Survey was used to collect data from the 69 participants. Collected data were analyzed with SPSS. The findings revealed that parents and teachers perceived that family, extended …

Parent Preferred Teacher Qualities: The Call For Highly Qualified Teachers, Taylor M. Roberson

Honors College Theses

This study sought to answer the question, “What teacher characteristics do parents value most?” as an initial response to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.The purpose of this study was to determine what teacher characteristics parents perceive as making teachers highly qualified to be used to improve parent-teacher relations and teacher effectiveness. To answer this question, a survey was used to collect data from the parents of K-5 students. 176 surveys were returned out of the 800 administered and were used to help the researcher conclude that there is not a teacher characteristic that stands alone to make …

Outgrowths Of Usg Stem Initiatives: Service Learning Courses And A Stem Honors Camp, Tim Howard, Kimberly Shaw, Cindy Ticknor

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

We examine two programs that have developed out of USG STEM Initiative projects. With the first STEM Initiative, Columbus State University initiated an Academy of Future Teachers that has led to an expanded STEM Honors Camp for recruiting university students into high school teaching and heightening high school students’ interests in STEM careers. With STEM Initiative II, Columbus State launched a Project FOCUS replication that contributed to the establishment of the UTeach Columbus program for preparing high school STEM teachers.

Real Stem: Scientific Research For Rural Georgia High School Students, Deborah M. Walker, Robert L. Mayes, Raushanah Oglesby, Rich Mccombs

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

This is the story of creating a STEM research experience for students through a partnership between research institutes, University Faculty and high school teachers. The story of Real STEM will include a discussion of how the grant work is structured, barriers to implementation and successes that spur us on to continue to bring STEM experiences to rural, southeast Georgia.

Complex Adaptive Systems And Quantitative Reasoning In An Interdisciplinary Stem Mathematics Classroom, Robert L. Mayes, Kania Greer

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

In this presentation we will share outcomes from the Real STEM project, which provides professional development for rural teachers in the Georgia Coastal Plains supporting implementation of interdisciplinary STEM courses as well as STEM modules in mathematics and science courses. Real STEM includes a number of innovative student-active strategies for teaching including: Understanding by Design (UbD) approaches to teaching for understanding, problem-based learning (PBL), place-based education (PBE), complex adaptive systems (CAS) thinking, and quantitative reasoning (QR). QR is the mathematical underpinning of the projects. The projects are ongoing so we will report our results on impact on teacher practice and …

Paper 1: A Proposed Pedagogical Approach For Preparing Teacher Candidates To Incorporate (Academic) Language, Woong Lim, Lynn Stallings

Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (GAMTE) Annual Conference

The edTPA is a performance-based assessment that aims to measure teacher candidates’ readiness for teaching. Beginning in the fall of 2015, this assessment will be a mandatory requirement for those seeking certification in Georgia. General agreement exists in the field of education about the basic knowledge and skills essential for beginning teachers to demonstrate in classroom teaching. Does edTPA measure the knowledge and skills essential for beginning mathematics teachers in particular? Assuming that edTPA can successfully measure that knowledge and skills for beginning teachers, the use of the assessment could be valuable.

One of the critical components of edTPA is …

Paper 2: Design Considerations For Visually-Aided Discussion Prompts: Emphasizing Mathematical Reasoning In Teacher Education, Anne Marie S. Marshall, Kadian M. Callahan

Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (GAMTE) Annual Conference

The availability and familiarity of online discussion tools create new instructional options that teacher educators can use to foster prospective teachers’ understanding of mathematics. In particular, online discussion blogs provide an avenue through which teacher educators can press prospective teachers to explore mathematical concepts and share their mathematical reasoning with peers. Furthermore, by incorporating visual stimulations as a design component of these discussion blogs, prospective teachers can make sense of and respond to others’ ideas about mathematical concepts with greater clarity. This paper shares preliminary findings of a research study that examined the extent to which the design of a …

Paper 5: Caep, Nctm, And Secondary Mathematics Program Revisions, Dianna J. Spence

Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (GAMTE) Annual Conference

Eight assessments were developed for CAEP (formerly NCATE) and NCTM recognition of our secondary mathematics program. These assessments include internship work samples, field evaluations, and candidate portfolios addressing content knowledge, pedagogical methods, and mathematics technology. Based on data collected from these assessments, alongside ongoing evaluation of the program, several curriculum and program revisions were implemented, including: 1) development of mathematics content-specific courses in classroom management, assessment, and secondary curriculum; 2) restructuring of a senior seminar course in mathematics education; and 3) an increased content focus in probability and statistics. The adoption of new NCTM standards in the CAEP review process …

Paper 6: A Mathematics Teacher’S Journey Of Identity Construction And Change, Anthony B. Stinson

Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (GAMTE) Annual Conference

Despite some gains, improving mathematics instruction remains an area of concern in the United States. The implementation of the Common Core Standards and the challenge of teaching the 21st Century student require mathematics teachers to examine their pedagogy to determine if they need to change or improve their practices. This paper provides a personal account of my journey when determining my identity as a mathematics teacher and how constructing my identity helped in changing and improving my practices as a mathematics teacher. The study was done using autoethnography, a burgeoning research method, and identity theory. This study has the goals …

Caep, Nctm, And Secondary Mathematics Program Revisions, Dianna J. Spence

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

Eight assessments were developed for CAEP (formerly NCATE) and NCTM recognition of our secondary mathematics program. These assessments include internship work samples, field evaluations, and candidate portfolios addressing content knowledge, pedagogical methods, and mathematics technology. Based on data collected from these assessments, alongside ongoing evaluation of the program, several curriculum and program revisions were implemented, including: 1) development of mathematics content-specific courses in classroom management, assessment, and secondary curriculum; 2) restructuring of a senior seminar course in mathematics education; and 3) an increased content focus in probability and statistics. The adoption of new NCTM standards in the CAEP review process …

A Mathematics Teacher’S Journey Of Identity Construction And Change, Anthony B. Stinson

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

Despite some gains, improving mathematics instruction remains an area of concern in the United States. The implementation of the Common Core Standards and the challenge of teaching the 21st Century student require mathematics teachers to examine their pedagogy to determine if they need to change or improve their practices. This paper provides a personal account of my journey when determining my identity as a mathematics teacher and how constructing my identity helped in changing and improving my practices as a mathematics teacher. The study was done using autoethnography, a burgeoning research method, and identity theory. This study has the goals …

Paper 3: Differences In Beliefs Across A Series Of Four Mathematics Content Courses, Susanna Molitoris Miller, Caitlin Walkey

Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (GAMTE) Annual Conference

College students often ask questions such as, “Why do I have to take this class? Is there a point to it?” For Early Childhood Education (ECE) majors these questions may often take on a slightly different form, wondering, “How can I incorporate this information into my classroom?” or “Do I understand this well enough to teach this to my students?” It is especially important for pre- service teachers to feel confident working with the mathematical content that they are learning and for them to believe that they can successfully teach that same information to a group of students. Swackhamer, Koellner, …

Introductory Texts, Georgia Association Of Mathematics Teacher Educators

Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (GAMTE) Annual Conference

Coverpage

GAMTE Information

Letter from the President

Table of Contents

Paper 4: Do You See What I See? Deepening Teachers’ Understanding Of Linear Equations Through Student Interviews, Tamara Pearson, Kelli Nipper, Catherine Matos

Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (GAMTE) Annual Conference

Many teachers have trouble transitioning their students between natural recursive thinking about the data and algebraic notation for representing linear functions (Zazkis & Liljedahl, 2002).

In this study, we interviewed eighteen middle school students to see how they used prior instruction to think about a geometric pattern and construct its corresponding linear equation. All students

were given the same task to complete and were questioned about their thinking during the interview.

We found that the recording of pattern recognition plays a substantial part in helping students recognize and write explicit patterns. By having students decompose the total perimeter into how …

Transition From Brick And Mortar To Online Teaching: Middle-Grade Teachers' Perspectives, Cathy Griffin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate and understand how middle-grades teachers describe the transition from brick and mortar to online teaching of middle-grades students. A qualitative, descriptive case study design provided the framework for this study. An investigation into the lived experiences of a group of online middle-grades instructors making the transition from a traditional classroom setting to an online environment was conducted using interviews and online journaling.

The questions guiding this study were (a) How does a middle-grade teacher describe the transition from brick and mortar to online teaching of middle-grades learners? (b) What do middle-school teachers …

Proceedings Of The Eighth Annual Meeting Of The Georgia Association Of Mathematics Teacher Educators Introductory Texts

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

• GAMTE 2014 Officers
• GAMTE 2014 Conference Committee
• GAMTE 2014 Proceedings Committee
• Purposes and Goals of GAMTE
• Letter from the President

Do You See What I See? Deepening Teachers’ Understanding Of Linear Equations Through Student Interviews, Tamara Pearson, Kelli L. Nipper, Catherine Matos

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

Many teachers have trouble transitioning their students between natural recursive thinking about the data and algebraic notation for representing linear functions (Zazkis & Liljedahl, 2002).

In this study, we interviewed eighteen middle school students to see how they used prior instruction to think about a geometric pattern and construct its corresponding linear equation. All students

were given the same task to complete and were questioned about their thinking during the interview.

We found that the recording of pattern recognition plays a substantial part in helping students recognize and write explicit patterns. By having students decompose the total perimeter into how …

Differences In Beliefs Across A Series Of Four Mathematics Content Courses, Susanna Molitoris Miller, Caitlin Walkey

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

College students often ask questions such as, “Why do I have to take this class? Is there a point to it?” For Early Childhood Education (ECE) majors these questions may often take on a slightly different form, wondering, “How can I incorporate this information into my classroom?” or “Do I understand this well enough to teach this to my students?” It is especially important for pre- service teachers to feel confident working with the mathematical content that they are learning and for them to believe that they can successfully teach that same information to a group of students. Swackhamer, Koellner, …

A Proposed Pedagogical Approach For Preparing Teacher Candidates To Incorporate (Academic) Language, Woong Lim, Lynn Stallings

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

The edTPA is a performance-based assessment that aims to measure teacher candidates’ readiness for teaching. Beginning in the fall of 2015, this assessment will be a mandatory requirement for those seeking certification in Georgia. General agreement exists in the field of education about the basic knowledge and skills essential for beginning teachers to demonstrate in classroom teaching. Does edTPA measure the knowledge and skills essential for beginning mathematics teachers in particular? Assuming that edTPA can successfully measure that knowledge and skills for beginning teachers, the use of the assessment could be valuable.

One of the critical components of edTPA is …

Design Considerations For Visually-Aided Discussion Prompts: Emphasizing Mathematical Reasoning In Teacher Education, Anne Marie S. Marshall, Kadian M. Callahan

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

The availability and familiarity of online discussion tools create new instructional options that teacher educators can use to foster prospective teachers’ understanding of mathematics. In particular, online discussion blogs provide an avenue through which teacher educators can press prospective teachers to explore mathematical concepts and share their mathematical reasoning with peers. Furthermore, by incorporating visual stimulations as a design component of these discussion blogs, prospective teachers can make sense of and respond to others’ ideas about mathematical concepts with greater clarity. This paper shares preliminary findings of a research study that examined the extent to which the design of a …

Transformational Leadership And A Culture Of Efficacy: A Search For Correlation In The Alabama Two-Year College System, Johnny H. Mcmoy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research project explores the predominant leadership characteristics among community college presidents as measured by Bass and Avolio’s transformational leadership continuum, the degree of collective teacher efficacy among faculty, and any correlation that exists between them. The populations studied are the presidents and faculty of community colleges in Alabama. Two instruments were employed, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Bass and Avolio (1995) and Goddard’s CE-SCALE (2000, 2002), as a measure of collective teacher efficacy.

The researcher found evidence of mid-range collective efficacy scores among faculty and strong evidence of pervasive transformational leadership characteristics among college presidents. The researcher …